Selective streaming based on dynamic parental rating of content

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are described to selectively stream content based on parental control ratings. At a client device, a manifest identifying sequential segments of a media asset and versions of a particular segment of the sequential segments may be received, and a graphical user interface may be generated for display to simultaneously depict a respective portion of each respective version of the particular segment and respective selectable options associated with each respective version of the particular segment. A selection of a first option may be received that is associated with a first version of the particular segment, and during playing of the media asset, in response to determining that the particular segment is the next segment to be played, the first version of the particular segment may be requested from the server.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure is directed to selectively streaming content based onparental control ratings. In particular, techniques are disclosed forenabling selection of one of multiple versions of a portion of a mediaasset to be displayed, and analyzing a live broadcast to determinewhether an upcoming frame is associated with a parental control rating.

SUMMARY

Media content has become increasingly accessible to users via amultitude of devices and platforms. It is often desirable for a firstuser (e.g., a parent) to restrict access of a second user (e.g., achild) to certain media content that may be inappropriate for the seconduser to consume. In one approach, a content provider stores multiplecopies of the same media content, where one copy is edited from itsoriginal form to remove or modify portions of the content that may beinappropriate for users of certain ages, and the user may request suchmodified copy of the media asset for their children to view. However, insuch approach the content provider often stores multiple copies of eachmedia asset, even if there are only minor differences between theoriginal copy of the media asset and the modified copies, which may be aburden on the content provider's storage and processing resources. Thismay be particularly burdensome if multiple copies of each version needto be stored (e.g., both edited and unedited versions may need to bestored in multiple bit rated encodings). In addition, such approach isoften inflexible in that a user device set to a particular parentalrating may be forbidden to view certain content even if only a smallportion of the content does not comply with the parental rating, such asif only one copy of the content is available. Further, a user selectingthe copy of the media asset may be completely reliant on the contentprovider to determine which potentially objectionable scenes to modifyor remove, even though different users may have different preferencesabout what is appropriate or desirable for their children to see.

In another approach, a parent may set certain parental ratings to blocka child's access to certain broadcast programming (e.g., a movie with an“R” rating). However, such systems may be inadequate in the context oflive broadcasts. For example, a child may be exposed to profane languageor nudity that unexpectedly occurs during a live broadcast of a sportingevent (e.g., a soccer game). Alternatively, the live broadcast may besubjected to a time delay to allow for censorship by human reviewers ofinappropriate content. However, such approach may be costly (e.g., tocompensate a human reviewer for his or her time). In addition, thisapproach may be undesirable because the user may receive a notification(e.g., from a mobile application tracking the score of the soccer game,or a friend who is watching the soccer game without such time delay)that a goal was scored in the soccer game during such time delay, whichdetracts from the suspense and excitement of watching a live sportingevent (e.g., since the user knows a goal is about to be scored based onsuch notification). Moreover, some users may not want to receive acensored version of the live broadcast.

To overcome these problems, systems and methods are provided herein forenabling selection of one of multiple versions of a portion of a mediaasset to be displayed. A client device may receive from a server amanifest of a media asset, where such manifest identifies (a) aplurality of sequential segments of the media asset and (b) a pluralityof versions of a particular segment of the plurality of sequentialsegments. The client device may generate for display a graphical userinterface (GUI) that simultaneously depicts a respective portion of eachrespective version of the plurality of versions of the particularsegment, and a plurality of selectable options, where each respectiveselectable option of the plurality of selectable options is associatedwith a respective version of the particular segment. The client devicemay receive a selection of a first option, of the plurality ofselectable options, that is associated with a first version of theplurality of versions of the particular segment. During playing of themedia asset, in response to determining that the particular segment ofthe plurality of sequential segments is the next segment to be played,the client device may request from the server the first version of theparticular segment (e.g., using an address of the selected segment fromthe manifest). In some embodiments, multiple segments in the media assetmay have multiple respective versions, and the client device may requesta particular version for each of such multiple segments having multiplerespective versions.

In addition, to overcome these problems, systems and methods areprovided herein for transmitting, from a server to a client device, amanifest of a media asset, where the manifest identifies (a) a pluralityof sequential segments of the media asset and (b) a plurality ofversions of a particular segment of the plurality of sequentialsegments. The server may cause the client device to generate for displaya GUI that simultaneously depicts a respective portion of eachrespective version of the plurality of versions of the particularsegment, and a plurality of selectable options, where each respectiveselectable option of the plurality of selectable options is associatedwith a respective version of the particular segment. The server mayreceive a selection of a first option, of the plurality of selectableoptions, that is associated with a first version of the plurality ofversions of the particular segment. During playing of the media asset,in response to receiving an indication that the particular segment ofthe plurality of sequential segments is the next segment to be played,the server may transmit to the client device the first version of theparticular segment.

Such aspects enable selection of one or more versions of segments of amedia asset to create a custom playlist for the media asset. Forexample, certain users may be interested in consuming content with theirchildren, but may not desire for their children to hear profane languageor view scenes with nudity, while at the same time may desire to viewportions of the content depicting consumption of alcohol (e.g., if theuser would like to use the scene to initiate a conversation aboutresponsible drinking with their children). Thus, the user may be shownmultiple versions of particular segments (e.g., where at least one ofthe versions depicts potentially objectionable content) and given theopportunity to selectively choose which versions to include in thepresentation of the media asset. In some embodiments, playlists of theselected versions of one or more segments of the media asset may besaved by the user (e.g., for use by multiple users in the user'shousehold and/or associated with a profile of the user), and suchplaylists may be shared or posted by the user (e.g., shared with friendsof the user via email, text message, via the Internet or other computernetwork, and/or posted in connection with a social media profile of theuser). In addition, such aspects enable storing media assets to be lessburdensome for content providers in that instead of storing multiplecopies of a media asset that only have minor differences, the contentprovider need not store duplicate portions of the media asset (e.g.,that do not contain objectionable content) and may instead storemultiple versions of certain portions (e.g., portions with objectionablecontent).

In addition, to overcome these problems, systems and methods areprovided herein for analyzing a live broadcast to determine whether anupcoming frame is associated with a parental control rating, andperforming a suitable action based on the determination. A streamingapplication identifies a particular frame of a live broadcast of a mediaasset that is to be transmitted to a first device, and determines (e.g.,using pre-trained artificial intelligence models, or other processingtechniques) that the particular frame of the media asset depicts contentassociated with a parental control rating. In response to thedetermining that the particular frame of the media asset depicts contentassociated with the parental control rating, the streaming applicationtransmits to the first device (a) the particular frame and (b) metadataassociated with the particular frame that indicates that the particularframe depicts content associated with the parental control rating. Thetransmittal of the metadata causes the first device to perform an actionrelated to display of the particular frame based on comparing theparental control rating with a local parental control setting.

Such aspects enable monitoring upcoming portions of live broadcastcontent, and the performing of a suitable ameliorative action (e.g.,displaying other content such as an advertisement or other supplementalcontent in place of the potentially objectionable content, displayingblank or dark frames in place of the content, displaying placeholderframes, etc.) consistent with local parental control settings. Thus,even in the event that a user is consuming seemingly innocuousprogramming (e.g., a soccer match), suitable actions may be taken toaccount for potentially objectionable content that is unexpectedlypresented (e.g., nudity or profanity) during the programming. In someembodiments, the local parental control setting is based on a profile ofa user viewing the live broadcast of the media asset.

In some embodiments, the GUI, which may simultaneously depict therespective portion of each respective version of the plurality ofversions of the particular segment and the plurality of selectableoptions, where each respective selectable option of the plurality ofselectable options is associated with a respective version of theparticular segment, may further depict parental control information foreach respective portion of each respective version of the plurality ofversions of the particular segment. Such parental information isidentified in the manifest and indicates at least one of the versions ofthe plurality of versions of the particular segment contains potentiallyobjectionable content.

In some aspects of this disclosure, each respective portion comprises akey frame from each respective version of the particular segment, wherethe key frame comprises potentially objectionable content associatedwith the respective portion. The respective portion may further comprisesubtitle information associated with the potentially objectionablecontent of the respective version of the particular segment. Eachrespective portion may alternatively or additionally comprise ananimation or trick play content associated with the respective portion.

In some embodiments, the playing of the media asset occurs at a deviceother than the client device. For example, a playlist may be createdbased on selection of versions of segments of a media asset receivedfrom a first user (e.g., a parent) at a first device (e.g., a mobiledevice) and content may be presented to the first user and a second user(e.g., a child of the parent) at a second device (e.g., a television).

In some aspects of this disclosure, the client device may transmit arequest to play the media asset, and receive, without generating fordisplay the GUI, an initial segment of the plurality of segmentscomprising the particular segment.

In some embodiments, the streaming application trains a machine learningmodel to accept as input a frame of a media asset and output adetermination of whether the content depicted by the frame is associatedwith a parental control rating. Such machine learning model may beleveraged to determine whether the particular frame of the media assetdepicts content associated with a parental control rating, e.g., byinputting the particular frame of the media asset into the trainedmachine learning model. In some embodiments, the machine learning modelmay be a neural network.

In some aspects of this disclosure, performing the action related todisplay of the particular frame comprises replacing the particular framewith a predetermined frame, in response to determining, based on thecomparison, that the parental control rating is not compatible with thelocal parental control setting. The predetermined frame may be anadvertisement and/or supplemental content (e.g., interactive content,content related to the media asset, etc.).

In some embodiments, performing the action related to display of theparticular frame comprises obscuring the particular frame, in responseto determining, based on the comparison, that the parental controlrating is not compatible with the local parental control setting.

In some aspects of this disclosure, performing the action related todisplay of the particular frame comprises permitting the particularframe to be presented, in response to determining, based on thecomparison, that the parental control rating is compatible with thelocal parental control setting.

In some embodiments, in response to determining, based on thecomparison, that the parental control rating is not compatible with thelocal parental control setting, the streaming application causes thefirst device to present a prompt to enter authentication credentials toview the particular frame of the media asset.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the present disclosurewill be apparent upon consideration of the following detaileddescription, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich like reference characters refer to like parts throughout, and inwhich:

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram for masking one or more segments of a mediaasset based on a parental control rating, in accordance with someembodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram for skipping one or more frames of a mediaasset based on a parental control rating, in accordance with someembodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary user interface for selection of versions ofrespective segments of a media asset, in accordance with someembodiments of this disclosure.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram for presenting a media asset at a clientdevice in accordance with selection of respective versions of one ormore segments of a media asset, in accordance with some embodiments ofthis disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram for monitoring frames of a live broadcastof a media asset based on parental control ratings, in accordance withsome embodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 6 shows an example of a neural network machine learning model, inaccordance with some embodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of an illustrative streaming device, inaccordance with some embodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of an illustrative streaming system, inaccordance with some embodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a detailed illustrative process for presentinga media asset at a client device in accordance with selection ofrespective versions of one or more segments of a media asset, inaccordance with some embodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a detailed illustrative process fortransmitting selected respective versions of one or more segments of amedia asset from a server to a client device, in accordance with someembodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a detailed illustrative process for monitoringframes of a live broadcast of a media asset based on parental controlratings, in accordance with some embodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a detailed illustrative process for causing aclient device to perform an action related to the monitoring of a livebroadcast of a media asset based on parental control ratings, inaccordance with some embodiments of this disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As referred to herein, the term “media asset” should be understood torefer to an electronically consumable user asset, e.g., televisionprogramming, as well as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (as invideo-on-demand (VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streamingcontent, downloadable content, webcasts, etc.), video clips, audio,playlists, websites, articles, electronic books, blogs, social media,applications, games, and/or any other media or multimedia, and/orcombination of the above.

As referred to herein, the term “manifest” should be understood to referto a file and/or a data structure containing information aboutsequential segments (comprising sequential frames) of a media asset thatis available to a client device. Such information may include, e.g., anumber of segments in a playlist, bit rates of each segment, codecsassociated with each segment, resolution of each segment, parentalrating associated with each segment, timing of each segment, location onthe network (e.g., network 806 of FIG. 8) where a segment may beretrieved, bandwidth of each segment, video tracks of each segment,audio tracks of each segment, subtitle tracks of each segment, captionsof each segment, languages of each segment, metadata associated witheach segment, etc.

The manifest may be employed in any of a variety of streaming protocols,e.g., media presentation description (MPD) files for Dynamic AdaptiveStreaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), m3u8 files for HTTP Live Streaming(HLS), f4m files for HTTP Dynamic Streaming (HDS), ingest files for CMAF(Common Media Application Format), manifest files for Microsoft SmoothStreaming (MSS), etc. The manifest may be a standard manifest (e.g., anMPD file from MPEG-DASH) or may be a modified version of a standardmanifest. A segment may comprise information (e.g., encoded video,audio, subtitle information, error correction bits, error detectionbits, etc.) for a particular interval of a media asset, and each segmentmay correspond to a file specified in the manifest indicating anassociated URL for retrieving the file. The segment may comprise acollection or sequence of frames (e.g., still images that together makeup moving pictures of scenes of a portion of a media asset), and eachsegment may have a specific length (e.g., from zero to a few seconds).In the segment-based delivery of media content using the above-mentionedstreaming protocols, various techniques may be employed (e.g., MPEG-2Transport stream format, MPEG-4 format such as the fragmented MPEG-4format).

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram 100 for masking one or more segments of amedia asset based on a parental control rating, in accordance with someembodiments of this disclosure. Manifest 110 for a media asset (e.g.,“Movie A”) may be stored at media server 108 (e.g., server 804 of FIG.8). An exemplary manifest is shown below, where “Playlist 1” of manifest110 may correspond to “sd/gear_parental/prog index.m3u8” (SD contentwith a parental rating of “restricted to ages above 12 years old”);“Playlist 2” of manifest 110 may correspond to “sd/gear/prog index.m3u8”(SD content with no parental control rating); “Playlist 3” of manifest110 may correspond to “hd/gear_parental/prog index.m3u8” (HD contentwith a parental rating of “restricted to ages above 12 years old”; and“Playlist 4” of manifest 110 may correspond to “hd/gear/prog index.m3u8”(HD content with no parental control rating):

#EXTM3U #EXT-X-STREAM-INF:PROGRAM-ID=1, BANDWIDTH=30000,PARENTAL-RATING=12,CODECS=“mp4a.40.2, avc1.4d4015”sd/gear_parental/prog_index.m3u8 #EXT-X-STREAM-INF:PROGRAM-ID=1,BANDWIDTH=30000, CODECS=“mp4a.40.2, avc1.4d4015” sd/gear/prog_index.m3u8#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:PROGRAM-ID=1, BANDWIDTH=100000,PARENTAL-RATING=12,CODECS=“mp4a.40.2, avc1.4d401e”hd/gear_parental/prog_index.m3u8 #EXT-X-STREAM-INF:PROGRAM-ID=1,BANDWIDTH=1000000, CODECS=“mp4a.40.2, avc1.4d401e”hd/gear/prog_index.m3u8

At 112, the streaming application (e.g., running at least in part onmedia server 108) may generate a masked playlist 114 (e.g., for“Playlist 2” and “Playlist 4” of manifest 110). For example, thestreaming application may determine that one or more segments correspondto objectionable content (e.g., have a parental control rating higherthan a local parental control setting at the client device, such as arating higher than “G”: appropriate for all viewers). The streamingapplication may perform such determination of whether one or moresegments contains objectionable content based on information receivedfrom a content provider (e.g., metadata received from media contentsource 802 of FIG. 8, and/or metadata received from a film ratingorganization), or based on machine learning techniques, as discussed infurther detail in connection with FIG. 6, or other techniques (e.g.,image processing and audio processing of frames to identify keyfeatures, and comparison to a database of known features having aparticular content rating).

As shown below, upon determining that a particular segment containsobjectionable content, the streaming application may apply masking tosuch a segment (e.g., Segment 4 from 00:41-00:50) of each playlistwithout a parental rating. In some embodiments, the streamingapplication may not perform masking on segments included in playlistshaving a parental rating (e.g., “Playlist 1” and “Playlist 3” ofmanifest 110) since such segments may have already been modified tocomply with the associated parental rating. Alternatively, the streamingapplication may generate masked versions of the playlists having theparental ratings (e.g., certain segments of “Playlist 1” and “Playlist3” may be masked, such as segments having a rating higher than apredefined rating of “G”, to generate masked playlists “Playlist 2” and“Playlist 4”).

Masking may be performed by the streaming application using varioustechniques (e.g., by masking bits associated with video, audio andsubtitles of the stream to 0 in certain bit positions, or removing theparticular segment or frames from the playlist). In some embodiments,such aspects may alleviate the burden on a content provider's storageand/or processing resources by enabling such content provider tomaintain a masked version of a playlist (e.g., a masked version of“Playlist 1”) by leveraging stored segments from the unmasked version.For example, since the segments of the masked version of “Playlist 1”may be, aside from the one or more masked segment(s), the same as thesegments of the unmasked version of “Playlist 1,” only such maskedsegments may need to be stored to form the unmasked playlist.

sd/gear_parental/prog_index.m3u8 #EXTM3U #EXT-X-TARGETDURATION: 10#EXT-X-VERSION: 3 #EXT-X-MEDIA-SEQUENCE: 0 #EXT-X-PLAYLIST-TYPE: VOD#EXTINF: 10.0, fileSequence0.ts #EXTINF: 10.0, fileSequence1.ts #EXTINF:10.0, fileSequence2.ts #EXTINF: 10.0, fileSequence3.ts #EXTINF: 10.0,fileSequence4.ts #EXTINF: 10.0, fileSequence5.ts #EXT-X-ENDLISTsd/gear/prog_index.m3u8 #EXTM3U #EXT-X-TARGETDURATION: 10#EXT-X-VERSION: 3 #EXT-X-MEDIA-SEQUENCE: 0 #EXT-X-PLAYLIST-TYPE: VOD#EXTINF: 10.0, fileSequence0.ts #EXTINF: 10.0, fileSequence1.ts #EXTINF:10.0, fi1eSequence2.ts #EXTINF: 10.0, fi1eSequence3.ts #EXTINF: 10.0,masked_fileSequence4.ts // content between 41-50 seconds masked, storedas different segment #EXTINF: 10.0, fileSequence5.ts #EXT-X-ENDLIST

At 116, manifest 114 (e.g., specifying one or more masked playlists) maybe provided to a client device (e.g., client device 202 of FIG. 2, oranother client device associated with the user, e.g., client device 202may be utilized as a second screen to direct the media asset to bepresented on another device in a vicinity of the user and/or in a homenetwork of the user) from media server 108 in response to receiving auser request to play the media asset.

At 118, the streaming application (e.g., running at least in part on theclient device) may check for a local parental rating at the clientdevice, and determine whether any of the playlists included in manifest114 are compatible with the local parental rating.

For example, the streaming application may determine that the localparental rating at the client device either does not exist, or iscompatible with unmasked playlists of manifest 114 (e.g., the localparental rating may allow all content appropriate for ages 14 and over).In such instance, at 120 the client device may request a suitableplaylist (e.g., the unmasked version of “Playlist 2” or the unmaskedversion of “Playlist 4”).

On the other hand, the streaming application may determine that thelocal parental rating is incompatible with one or more playlists (e.g.,the local parental rating may restrict viewing of content having arating of “ages 5 and over”). In such instance, the client device at 122may request a suitable masked playlist (e.g., the masked version of“Playlist 2” or the masked version of “Playlist 4”).

The masked content may take one of various forms (e.g., display of ablank or dark screen). In some embodiments, the streaming applicationmay skip the objectionable content or substitute other content (e.g.,retrieve from the media server advertisements directed to a youngeraudience consistent with the local parental rating, supplemental contentrelated to the media asset such as alternative scenes and/or audio ofthe media asset, interactive content, etc.) for the objectionablecontent. Such processing may be performed on any number of segments ofthe media asset determined to be incompatible with the local parentalcontrol setting. In some embodiments, the content substituted for theoriginal objectionable content may have an identical time duration asthe time duration of the segment at issue in the media asset.Additionally or alternatively, the streaming application may provide anotification to the user via a GUI indicating that the substitutedcontent is about to end, and that the media asset is set to resume fromthe next segment, unless the user selects an option to continue thesubstituted content. The client device may then seamlessly transition tothe next segment.

In some embodiments, the streaming application may enable (e.g.,automatically, such as based on changing network conditions, or based onuser input) switching between different parental rating-based tracksdepending on user selection (e.g., during playing of the media asset, ona segment-by-segment or frame-by-frame basis). For example, thestreaming application may generate for presentation a prompt at theclient device enabling entry of a password or PIN to view a particularsegment (e.g., and an indication that the particular segment will bemasked unless the correct password or PIN is provided). In someembodiments, the streaming application may aggregate information aboutdifferent parental tracks available to the client device (e.g., prior tobeginning to play the media asset) to enable to user to select contentwith less strict parental controls (e.g., provided entry of the correctparental control password is received from the user).

In some embodiments, the streaming application may store and/or transmitthe original content that is being masked out or replaced for access atthe client device (or another device associated with the user), e.g., soa parent may watch the scene on his or her mobile device when his or herchild (e.g., consuming the masked-out content) is not around. In someembodiments, the streaming application may generate for display a promptfor a password or PIN (e.g., associated with the local parental controlsetting) where entry of such password or PIN (prior to the objectionablesegment, or during the period in which masked-out or replacement contentis being presented) may permit the objectionable segment (e.g., segment4 in FIG. 1) to be generated for presentation (e.g., to override thelocal parental control setting). In some embodiments, the client devicemay receive a notification on his or her phone indicating thatobjectionable content is contained in an upcoming or imminent segment,to permit the user to take action (e.g., request specific replacementcontent, enter his or her password or PIN to override the local parentalsetting, etc.).

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram 200 for skipping one or more frames of amedia asset based on a parental control rating, in accordance with someembodiments of this disclosure. The streaming application running atleast in part on client device 202 (e.g., computer device 807, mobiledevice 808, television 810 of FIG. 8) may generate for presentation GUI211 to enable user selection to play a media asset (e.g., “Movie B”associated with media listing 204). Upon receiving selection of option207 to play such media asset, the request may be transmitted to mediaserver 208 (e.g., server 804 of FIG. 8). Media server 208 may accessmanifest 210 of the media asset (e.g., stored at media server 208, or anassociated database). Manifest 210 may specify one or more segments ofthe requested media asset. For example, manifest 210 indicates “segment1” comprises one or more frames flagged as having a parental controlrating indicating potentially objectionable content (e.g., a collectionor sequence of frames inappropriate for viewers under age 18, and acollection or sequence of frames inappropriate for viewers under age12). A frame rate of the requested asset may be, for example, 60 framesper second (e.g., a 4-second segment may include 240 frames).

The parental rating may be provided by a content provider (e.g., mediacontent source 802 of FIG. 8) or another film rating organization, ormay be assigned by the streaming application based on machine learning,as discussed in further detail in connection with FIG. 6, or using othertechniques. The streaming application may analyze the media asset on aframe-by-frame basis to determine parental control ratings, and anindicator may be associated with one or more frames based on theanalysis (e.g., particular bits may be associated with frames toindicate whether a frame is suitable for all viewers, only viewers in acertain age range, etc.). For example, for a media asset, the majorityof the frames may be assigned a first bit value (e.g., indicating suchframes are suitable for all viewers), and other portions of the mediaasset may be assigned a second bit value (e.g., indicating the frames ofsuch portion are not suitable for viewers under the age of 12) and theremaining portions may be assigned a third bit value (e.g., indicatingthe frames of such portion are not suitable for viewers under the age of18). In some embodiments, a bit value may correspond to differentparental control ratings based on region (e.g., in the U.S. a bit valueof “1” may correspond to “restricted to viewers above the age of 12”whereas in Canada a bit value of “1” may correspond to “restricted toviewers above the age of 18”). In some embodiments, only a single copyof the media asset may be maintained by media server 208.

Manifest 210 may be provided to client device 202 (or another clientdevice associated with the user, e.g., client device 202 may be utilizedas a second screen to direct the media asset to be presented on anotherdevice in a vicinity of the user and/or in a home network of the user)from media server 208 in response to receiving user selection of option207 to play the media asset. At 212, the streaming application mayanalyze upcoming frame(s) of a current or next segment. In someembodiments, the streaming application, being executed at least in partat media server 208, may analyze such frames using techniques such asdiscussed in further detail in connection with FIG. 6 to determinewhether such frames contain objectionable content.

At 214, the streaming application may determine whether the upcoming oneor more frames (e.g., a subset of frames included in the next segment tobe provided to the client device) are flagged as containingobjectionable content. Upon determining that such frames are flagged ashaving objectionable content, the streaming application may compare aparental rating associated with such flagged content to a local parentalrating (e.g., set by a user and associated with a user profile of theuser on the streaming application).

At 216, upon determining the parental control rating associated with theanalyzed frames are incompatible with the local parental control setting(e.g., the local parental control setting requires a “G” rating, and theparental control rating of the analyzed frames indicates the content issuitable only for ages 12 and over), processing may move to 220.

If the streaming application determines (at 214) that the analyzedframes do not contain objectionable content, or (at 216) that theanalyzed frames contain objectionable content but nonetheless arecompatible with the local parental rating, the streaming applicationmay, at step 218, generate for presentation to the user at client device202 the analyzed frames in their original form.

At 220, upon determining upcoming frames are flagged as havingobjectionable content, the streaming application may prompt a user toenter a password, PIN or other authenticator, to enable viewing theobjectionable content (e.g., to override the local parental controlsetting and present the frame as originally constructed). If thestreaming application determines that no password has been entered, at222 the frames at issue may be skipped (or other content may be insertedin place of such frames, as discussed above in connection with 120 ofFIG. 1). For example, if the streaming application determines thatupcoming frames 6-1000 are objectionable, and does not receive aresponse to the prompt for password, the streaming application mayrequest the next combination of frames (e.g., starting from frame 1001)for presentation after the skip operation (or after the presentation ofplaceholder content or supplemental content in place of theobjectionable content). In some embodiments, entry of the password maybe permitted during such other content (e.g., to cause presentation ofthe objectionable content instead of the placeholder or supplementalcontent).

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary user interface for selection of versions ofrespective segments of a media asset, in accordance with someembodiments of this disclosure. A streaming application (e.g.,implemented at least in part on client device 300, which may correspondto any of computer device 807, mobile device 808, television 810 of FIG.8, in communication with server 804) may generate for display on GUI 311a depiction of a portion of versions 304, 306, 308 of segment 301 of amedia asset, associated with respective selectable options 310, 312,314; a portion of versions 316, 318 of segment 303 of the media assetassociated with respective selectable options 320, 322; and a portion ofversions 326, 328, 330 of segment 305 of the media asset associated withrespective selectable options 332, 334, 336.

Each version of a particular segment may depict a variation of suchsegment (e.g., one or more key frames of the version of the segmentincluding video and/or audio of the segment, screenshots of the segment,a Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) image or other animation related tothe segment, a fast-forwarded version of the segment, subtitles 321and/or 323 of potentially objectionable language of the segment,critical reviews associated with the segment, reactions of friends ofthe user, on the streaming application or social network, to thesegment). In some embodiments, a parental control rating (e.g., 307,309, 313) associated with a specific version of a segment may bedepicted near or adjacent to the associated version.

As shown in FIG. 3, a depicted portion of version 304 of segment 301 maybe a frame depicting a person swimming away from a shark, where theshark is about to attack the swimmer (e.g., which may be potentiallyobjectionable content), and such portion of version 304 of segment 301may additionally or alternatively comprise an additional frame depictingthe shark attacking the swimmer. Parental control rating 307 mayindicate such portion of version 304 is rated R (i.e., restricted,containing adult material such as graphic violence in this case, inother cases substance abuse, nudity, or mature behavior, and thus notappropriate for viewing by unaccompanied children under 17). In theexample of FIG. 3, alternative versions of segment 301 comprise adepiction in which a portion of version 306 substitutes a small fish inplace of the shark in version 304, and having a parental control rating309 of “G” (i.e., suitable for all audiences), may be selected by theuser via selectable option 312. The alternative versions of segment 301may additionally comprise a crab substituted for the shark in version304, which may be associated with parental control rating 313 of “G”.The selectable options may be presented in any suitable form (e.g.,radio button, drop down menu, an icon depicting the portion of therespective version, etc.).

In some embodiments, a first user (e.g., a parent) may make selectionsprior to a time of viewing the media asset with a second user (e.g., achild) to avoid the second user viewing the potentially objectionablescenes during the selection process. GUI 302 of FIG. 3 may alternativelybe generated for presentation on another device (e.g., client device 402of FIG. 4) other than a device on which the media asset is to bepresented (e.g., to allow the first user, a parent, to make selectionsof suitable versions of segments on his or her mobile device, andprevent a second user, a child, from seeing portions of theobjectionable content).

Selection of option 322 may be received from the user, where option 322is associated with a portion of version 318 of segment 303 depicted inGUI 302. Such portion of version 318 may indicate in subtitles 323 avariation of potentially objectionable content as compared to subtitles321 depicted in portion of version 316 of segment 303. For example, itmay be desirable to select version 318 since, as indicated in theassociated subtitles, certain words which may be considered vulgar orinappropriate (e.g., “Damn,” “sucked”) may be replaced with moreinnocuous terms (“Darn”) or omitted in version 318.

Additionally or alternatively, selection of option 336 may be receivedby the streaming application from the user, where option 336 isassociated with a portion of version 330 of segment 305 depicted in GUI302. It may be desirable to select version 332, which depicts avariation of segment 332 in which a person is shown with a slice ofpizza, as opposed to versions 326 and 328 of segment 305 depicting acigarette and an alcoholic beverage, respectively. On the other hand, itmay be desirable for a user to select version 326 or version 328 if afirst user (e.g., a parent) determines that viewing such a scene mayhelp facilitate a conversation about, or demonstrate to a second user(e.g., a child) negative consequences of, substance abuse. Such aspectsprovide a flexible approach to selectively streaming content, where auser is provided with sufficient information and/or previews of upcomingscenes to enable the user to thoughtfully tailor which segments are tobe shown (e.g., based on other people the user plans to consume thecontent with or a current mood or preferences of the user).

In some embodiments, once selections of a particular version for eachrespective segment potentially containing objectionable content isreceived by the streaming application from a user, indications of suchselections may be stored (e.g., in connection with a user profileassociated with the streaming application, at media server 408 of FIG. 4and/or client device 402, 420 of FIG. 4) for future use. For example,multiple playlists associated with a media asset may be stored, and maybe accessible as appropriate depending on one or more users that are toview the content (e.g., a playlist with “G” versions of segmentsselected for viewing with children; a playlist with “R” versions ofsegments selected for an adult to view with friends or older familymembers, etc.). In some embodiments, GUI 411 may include, when a usernavigates to the media asset, selectable options to choose whichplaylist the user would like to watch. In some embodiments, onceselections have been made by a user of particular versions of segments,a request to play the media assets associated with the selectionsreceived by the streaming application may cause the media asset to beplayed based on such selections, without presenting the selectableoptions (e.g., since the user has already made certain selections).

In some embodiments, the streaming application may generate forpresentation variations of a particular scene which exclude contentthat, while not determined by the streaming application to beinappropriate for certain age groups, nonetheless may be undesirable forsome users. For example, if the streaming application determines that aparticular portion of a media asset is related to politics, thestreaming application may generate for presentation one or moreindicators that a certain version of a segment has political content,and the user may select a different version of the segment to avoidhearing about politics. In some embodiments, the user may specify suchcategories for the streaming application to monitor (e.g., politics,celebrity gossip, etc.) as undesirable to the user. The neural network600 of FIG. 6 may be trained to recognize the specified topics, and/orimage processing and audio processing techniques may be employed tomonitor the specified topics.

In some embodiments, the streaming application may allow for creation ofmultiple playlists for a media asset. For example, for a particularmedia asset, a first playlist may be suitable for a first user (e.g., aparent) to consume the media asset with his or her children (e.g.,replacing objectionable scenes with more innocuous versions of thescenes); a second playlist may be suitable for the first user to consumewith his or her spouse (e.g., including romantic scenes, but replacingscenes with lewd humor with another version); and a third playlist maybe created that is suitable for the first user to consume with his orher friends (e.g., including the scenes having lewd humor but differentversions of the romantic scenes). Such playlists may be stored forfuture use by the user and/or for sharing with other users (e.g., viathe streaming application or via other applications, such as socialmedia, or via email or other multimedia messaging). In some embodiments,the streaming application may maintain a library of playlists for futureaccess (e.g., enabling a user to play a movie the same way as his or herfriends). In some embodiments, playlists having a higher parental ratingthan a predefined local parental control setting may not be accessiblewithout entering a password or PIN related to the local parental controlsetting.

In some embodiments, predefined templates of selected versions ofsegments of a media asset may be provided by the streaming application.Such templates may be useful where a media asset has many objectionablesegments (and thus many versions such segment to choose from). Toprovide the user with a quick way to select versions of scenes, thestreaming application may provide predefined templates (e.g., “Kids,”“Parents,” “Teenagers,” “Friends,” “Grandparents,” etc.) which havepre-selected versions of each scene suitable for the selected template.The streaming application may determine which version to select based onmetadata associated with a template and the versions of segments (e.g.,the “Kids” template should not select any version above “PG”). Thestreaming application may allow the user to modify the pre-selected ofversions of segments based on the template prior to playing the mediaasset.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram 400 for presenting a media asset at aclient device in accordance with selection of respective versions of oneor more segments of a media asset, in accordance with some embodimentsof this disclosure. Client device 402 (e.g., by way of a streamingapplication running at least in part on client device 402) may generatefor display GUI 411 which may comprise media listing 404 associated witha media asset (e.g., “Movie A”), option 407 to cause presentation of themedia asset, and option 409 (“Customize scenes”). Media server 408 mayretrieve manifest 410 for such media asset, e.g., in response to thestreaming application receiving user selection of option 407 or option409.

Manifest 410 may specify information associated with one or moresegments of the requested media asset, e.g., time stamp or time durationwithin the presentation time of the media asset that the segment isshown, the number of alternate versions of variations are associatedwith the particular segment, a network address from which the one ormore versions of the particular segment may be retrieved, parentalcontrol information associated with the particular segment, one or morenetwork addresses where audio and/or video information of a portion ofrespective versions of a segment may be retrieved, etc.

Client device 402 may generate for display, based on received manifest410, GUI 411 comprising multiple versions of portions of each of segment401, 403 and 405, respectively (e.g., as shown in FIG. 3) simultaneouslywith selectable options respectively associated with such versions. Forexample, an identifier for segment 401 may be generated for presentationby the streaming application alongside portions of versions 404, 406,408 and respective associated selectable identifiers; an identifier forsegment 403 may be generated for presentation by the streamingapplication alongside portions of versions 416, 418 and respectiveassociated selectable identifiers; and an identifier for segment 405 maybe generated for presentation by the streaming application alongsideportions of versions 426, 428, 430 and respective associated selectableidentifiers.

Based on the manifest, the streaming application may depict parentalcontrol information (e.g., indicating a rating, such as “R”, associatedwith a portion, indicating terms or phrases such as “violence,”“nudity,” etc.) to assist a user with determining the suitability of theversion of the segment for particular audiences. In some embodiments,one or more of the portions of the respective versions may depict keyframes of at least a portion of the variation of the segment (e.g.,including audio and/or video tracks associated with the key frames),which may enable a user to ascertain the type of objectionable contentassociated with the specific version. In some embodiments, the streamingapplication may generate for presentation subtitle informationassociated with particular versions of segments, and/or other content(e.g., animations or GIFs associated with respective versions of asegment, fast-forwarded versions of respective versions of a segment,critical reviews or ratings of specific versions of a segment, etc.).

The parental control information specified in the manifest may bedetermined, e.g., by the streaming application, based on any of avariety of techniques. In some embodiments, a neural network model maybe employed, as discussed in more detail in connection with FIG. 6.Additionally or alternatively, versions of content may be supplied tomedia server 408 having been labeled (e.g., by human reviewers of acontent provider, such as media content source 802 of FIG. 8, or filmratings organizations) with parental control information. In someembodiments, the streaming application may employ image and/or audioprocessing techniques (e.g., speech-to-text processing of segments,extraction and analysis of keywords included in audio and/or subtitles)to analyze respective versions of each segment, extract and/or identifykey features of each version, and compare such key features to adatabase storing a table associating key features with parental controlratings.

As shown in FIG. 4, the streaming application may receive selection ofversion 406 of segment 401, version 418 of segment 403, and version 430of segment 405, and such s such selections may be transmitted fromclient device 402 to media server 408. Media server 408 may generate aplaylist based on such selections. In some embodiments, such playlistsmay be stored (e.g., at server 408 and/or at a client device) forprospective use by the user, e.g., the streaming application may store aplaylist suitable for adults based on user selections, and a playlistsuitable for all ages based on user selections. In some embodiments, thestreaming application may prompt a user for entry of a password (e.g.,associated with a parental control setting) before permitting theplaylist suitable for adults to be played.

Media server 408 may transmit the selected playlist to client device 420(e.g., smart television 810 of FIG. 8), which may generate forpresentation the selected version of a particular segment at theappropriate time (e.g., version 406 of segment 401 may be generated forpresentation at 0:01 within the presentation of the media assetcorresponding to the time stamp associated with segment 401). The clientdevice may be a different device (or alternatively may be the samedevice) as client device 402, from which media server 408 receivesselections of respective versions of segments. Each of the selectedversions of respective segments may be generated for presentation at theappropriate time during playback of the media asset (e.g., at 0:04 ofthe presentation of the media asset, version 418 of segment 403 may betransmitted to client device 420 and generated for presentation, and at0:07 of the presentation of the media asset, version 430 of segment 405may be transmitted to client device 420 and generated for presentation).

In some embodiments, a first device (e.g., a mobile device such asclient device 402) associated with a first user (e.g., a parent) mayreceive prompts from media server 408 to select a version of aparticular segment on the fly (e.g., during presentation of a mediaasset). For example, if the streaming application determines that anupcoming segment comprises potentially objectionable content, such firstdevice may receive portions of respective versions of the upcomingsegment and request a selected version from media server 408, and suchrequested version may be transmitted to client 420 (or client device402) for presentation to the user. For example, such notifications mayinclude indications that a rated “R” segment is upcoming. In someembodiments, if the media server does not receive a response concerningversions of the segment, the streaming application may by default selecta “G” rated version (e.g., appropriate for all ages) or a version thatcomports with a local parental rating.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram 500 for monitoring frames of a livebroadcast of a media asset based on parental control ratings, inaccordance with some embodiments of this disclosure. Media server 508may provide a live broadcast of a media asset (e.g., a live broadcast ofa soccer match) to client device 502, in response to receiving a requestto access the media asset. At 540, a streaming application (e.g.,running at least in part on media server 508) may identify the next (oneor more) frames to be presented in the requested live broadcast. Thestreaming application may perform the identification of the next framethroughout the broadcast of the media asset, as the media asset is beingconsumed by the user.

At 542, the streaming application may perform pre-processing of theupcoming frame, in order to place the data associated with the frame ina format appropriate for input to a machine learning model (e.g., neuralnetwork 600 of FIG. 6). For example, such pre-processing may convert rawimage or audio data included in the frame to a vector format.Alternatively, pre-processing may be performed at the machine learningmodel itself or may not be performed.

At 544, the upcoming frame may be analyzed with a trained machinelearning model (e.g., a neural network, discussed in more detail in FIG.6). For example, pre-processed frame data may be input to the machinelearning model, which may output a determination of whether the framecontains potentially objectionable content and a classification of suchobjectionable content. Additionally or alternatively, the streamingapplication may employ image and/or audio processing techniques toanalyze the upcoming frame, extract and/or identify key features of theframe, and compare such key features to a database storing a tableassociating key features with parental control ratings, to determinewhether the frame contains objectionable content. In some embodiments,the frame may contain metadata indicative of a parental control ratingassociated with the frame.

At 546, the streaming application may determine (e.g., based on theoutput of the machine learning model at 544, and/or other processingperformed at 544) whether the upcoming frame is associated with aparental control rating (e.g., whether the upcoming frame comprisespotentially objectionable content). Upon determining the upcoming framecomprises potentially objectionable content, the streaming applicationmay associate metadata 552 comprising parental control rating 554 withthe frame (which may also include image and/or video data 548 and audiodata 550) or insert the parental control rating in metadata appended tothe frame. For example, the parental control rating 554 may be a type ofobjectionable content depicted (e.g., nudity, profane language, violenceor other mature behavior) and/or another type of rating (e.g., “R”,“PG-13”, “G”, or “Not suitable for ages 12 and under”). At 556, thestreaming application may transmit to client device 502 the upcomingframe and the metadata associated with the frame that is indicative ofthe parental control rating.

At 558, the transmittal of the metadata indicative of the parentalcontrol rating from media server 508 may cause client device 502 todetermine, based on the received metadata, whether such parental controlrating for the frame is compatible with a local parental control setting(e.g., at client device 502 and/or associated with a profile of the useron the streaming application or client device 502). For example, theobjectionable content may correspond to unexpected events occurringduring the soccer match (e.g., a player, coach, fan or commentatoruttering profane language which may be audible during the livebroadcast, a fan running on the field wearing no clothing, etc.).

If the local parental control setting indicates, e.g., that contentinappropriate for ages 12 and under should be restricted, and thereceived parental control rating indicates the upcoming frame containsnudity and/or extreme violence, client device 502 may determine toperform a suitable action. For example, as discussed in further detailin connection with FIG. 12, the action may correspond to displaying oneor more frames 560 of a blank or dark screen in place of theobjectionable frames, fade out from the last acceptable frame and fadein to the next appropriate frame, skipping the objectionable frames,replacing the objectionable content with one or more predeterminedframes (e.g., statistics of the ongoing soccer match, highlights of thesoccer match or related sporting events, advertisements, othersupplemental or interactive content, etc.), automatically changing thechannel the media asset is associated with for a predetermined period oftime to avoid displaying the objectionable content, etc. In someembodiments, the skipped or replaced one or more frames may be storedlocally or transmitted to a secondary device (e.g., a mobile phone of auser) to allow for later viewing of the objectionable content.

If the streaming application determines at 546 that the frame is notassociated with a parental control rating (e.g., does not, or isunlikely to, contain objectionable content), or determines at 558 thatthe received parental control rating is compatible with the localparental control setting, the media server 508 may cause client device502 to generate for display such frame. In some embodiments, thestreaming application may associate metadata with the frame, or insertan indication into metadata associated with the frame, to indicate thatthe frame does not contain objectionable content (and thus can be playedby client device 562 regardless of a local parental control setting).For example, the streaming application may determine that one or moreframes depicted at client device 562 are simply a subsequent play in thesoccer match, and does not implicate a restrictive parental controlrating.

FIG. 6 shows a neural network machine learning model 600, which may beemployed in some embodiments of this disclosure. The neural network maybe trained with labeled training examples 602 (e.g., media assets havingbeen previously provided with a parental control rating by reviewers).Such labeled training examples 602 may be stored in a database (e.g.,database 805 of FIG. 8). Based on such training, the neural networkmodel may identify certain features that are predictive of a parentalcontrol rating (e.g., certain words correlated with profanity, certainobjects, actions or images correlated with violence or mature behavior,certain images correlated with nudity, etc.), and the trained neuralnetwork model may apply such learned inferences and patterns to upcomingsegment or frame 604, to determine whether such upcoming segment orframe 604 likely contains objectionable content.

The streaming application may pre-process the upcoming one or moresegments or frames 604 to generate one or more vectors indicative of keyfeatures of the one or more segments or frames 604, and such one or morevectors may be input into trained neural network 600 which processes theframe or segment based on the one or more input vectors and outputs aparental control rating (e.g., nudity 606, violence 608, profanity 610,mature behavior 612). In some embodiments, such output may be used bythe streaming application to assign a particular rating (e.g., “R”,“PG-13”, “G”) to upcoming segments or frames 604.

In some embodiments, the machine learning algorithm may be trained witha training set of example frames and/or segments that are commonlyskipped (e.g., fast-forwarded through, or during which a request toaccess a different media asset was made) or were caused to be replacedwith other content by a large number of users (e.g., having similarlocal parental control settings). If the machine learning modeldetermines that input frames or segments have a high degree ofsimilarity with such skipped or replaced content, the model may classifythe input segment or frame as also being skippable or replaceable, andassign a parental control rating to such input frame or segment that issimilar to a training example having similar characteristics. Neuralnetworks are discussed in more detail in connection with U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. US 2017/0161772 A1 to Xu et al., publishedJun. 8, 2017, and US 2020/0183773 A1 to Brehm, published Jun. 11, 2020,each of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

FIGS. 7-8 describe exemplary devices, systems, servers, and relatedhardware for selectively streaming content based on parental controlratings, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.FIG. 7 shows generalized embodiments of illustrative user equipmentdevices 700 and 701. For example, user equipment device 700 may be asmartphone device. In another example, user equipment system 701 may bea user television equipment system (e.g., smart television 300 of FIG.3). User television equipment system 701 may include set-top box 716.Set-top box 716 may be communicatively connected to microphone 718,speaker 714, and display 712. In some embodiments, microphone 718 mayreceive voice commands for the streaming application. In someembodiments, display 712 may be a television display or a computerdisplay. In some embodiments, set-top box 716 may be communicativelyconnected to user input interface 710. In some embodiments, user inputinterface 710 may be a remote control device. Set-top box 716 mayinclude one or more circuit boards. In some embodiments, the circuitboards may include processing circuitry, control circuitry, and storage(e.g., RAM, ROM, Hard Disk, Removable Disk, etc.). In some embodiments,the circuit boards may include an input/output path. More specificimplementations of user equipment devices are discussed below inconnection with FIG. 8. Each one of user equipment device 700 and userequipment system 701 may receive content and data via input/output(“I/O”) path 702. I/O path 702 may provide content (e.g., broadcastprogramming, on-demand programming, Internet content, content availableover a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), and/or othercontent) and data to control circuitry 704, which includes processingcircuitry 706 and storage 708. Control circuitry 704 may be used to sendand receive commands, requests, and other suitable data using I/O path702, which may comprise I/O circuitry. I/O path 702 may connect controlcircuitry 704 (and specifically processing circuitry 706) to one or morecommunications paths (described below). I/O functions may be provided byone or more of these communications paths, but are shown as a singlepath in FIG. 7 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Control circuitry 704 may be based on any suitable processing circuitrysuch as processing circuitry 706. As referred to herein, processingcircuitry should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may includea multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or anysuitable number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments,processing circuitry may be distributed across multiple separateprocessors or processing units, for example, multiple of the same typeof processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multipledifferent processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel Corei7 processor). In some embodiments, control circuitry 704 executesinstructions for a streaming application stored in memory (i.e., storage708). Specifically, control circuitry 704 may be instructed by thestreaming application to perform the functions discussed above andbelow. In some implementations, any action performed by controlcircuitry 704 may be based on instructions received from the streamingapplication.

In client/server-based embodiments, control circuitry 704 may includecommunications circuitry suitable for communicating with a streamingapplication server or other networks or servers. The instructions forcarrying out the above mentioned functionality may be stored on a server(which is described in more detail in connection with FIG. 8.Communications circuitry may include a cable modem, an integratedservices digital network (ISDN) modem, a digital subscriber line (DSL)modem, a telephone modem, Ethernet card, or a wireless modem forcommunications with other equipment, or any other suitablecommunications circuitry. Such communications may involve the Internetor any other suitable communication networks or paths (which isdescribed in more detail in connection with FIG. 8). In addition,communications circuitry may include circuitry that enables peer-to-peercommunication of user equipment devices, or communication of userequipment devices in locations remote from each other (described in moredetail below).

Memory may be an electronic storage device provided as storage 708 thatis part of control circuitry 704. As referred to herein, the phrase“electronic storage device” or “storage device” should be understood tomean any device for storing electronic data, computer software, orfirmware, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, hard drives,optical drives, digital video disc (DVD) recorders, compact disc (CD)recorders, BLU-RAY disc (BD) recorders, BLU-RAY 3D disc recorders,digital video recorders (DVR, sometimes called a personal videorecorder, or PVR), solid state devices, quantum storage devices, gamingconsoles, gaming media, or any other suitable fixed or removable storagedevices, and/or any combination of the same. Storage 708 may be used tostore various types of content described herein as well as streamingapplication data described above. Nonvolatile memory may also be used(e.g., to launch a boot-up routine and other instructions). Cloud-basedstorage, described in relation to FIG. 8, may be used to supplementstorage 708 or instead of storage 708.

Control circuitry 704 may include video generating circuitry and tuningcircuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, orany other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of suchcircuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog,or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided.Control circuitry 704 may also include scaler circuitry for upconvertingand downconverting content into the preferred output format of userequipment 700. Circuitry 704 may also include digital-to-analogconverter circuitry and analog-to-digital converter circuitry forconverting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may be used by user equipment device 700, 701 to receive andto display, to play, or to record content. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may also be used to receive guidance data. The circuitrydescribed herein, including for example, the tuning, video generating,encoding, decoding, encrypting, decrypting, scaler, and analog/digitalcircuitry, may be implemented using software running on one or moregeneral purpose or specialized processors. Multiple tuners may beprovided to handle simultaneous tuning functions (e.g., watch and recordfunctions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording,etc.). If storage 708 is provided as a separate device from userequipment device 700, the tuning and encoding circuitry (includingmultiple tuners) may be associated with storage 708.

A user may send instructions to control circuitry 704 using user inputinterface 710. User input interface 710 may be any suitable userinterface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard,touch screen, touchpad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognitioninterface, or other user input interfaces. Display 712 may be providedas a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of each one ofuser equipment device 700 and user equipment system 701. For example,display 712 may be a touchscreen or touch-sensitive display. In suchcircumstances, user input interface 710 may be integrated with orcombined with display 712. Display 712 may be one or more of a monitor,a television, a display for a mobile device, or any other type ofdisplay. A video card or graphics card may generate the output todisplay 712. The video card may be any processing circuitry describedabove in relation to control circuitry 704. The video card may beintegrated with the control circuitry 704. Speakers 714 may be providedas integrated with other elements of each one of user equipment device700 and user equipment system 701 or may be stand-alone units. The audiocomponent of videos and other content displayed on display 712 may beplayed through the speakers 714. In some embodiments, the audio may bedistributed to a receiver (not shown), which processes and outputs theaudio via speakers 714.

The streaming application may be implemented using any suitablearchitecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone applicationwholly-implemented on each one of user equipment device 700 and userequipment system 701. In such an approach, instructions of theapplication are stored locally (e.g., in storage 708), and data for useby the application is downloaded on a periodic basis (e.g., from anout-of-band feed, from an Internet resource, or using another suitableapproach). Control circuitry 704 may retrieve instructions of theapplication from storage 708 and process the instructions to rearrangethe segments as discussed. Based on the processed instructions, controlcircuitry 704 may determine what action to perform when input isreceived from user input interface 710. For example, movement of acursor on a display up/down may be indicated by the processedinstructions when user input interface 710 indicates that an up/downbutton was selected.

In some embodiments, the streaming application is a client/server-basedapplication. Data for use by a thick or thin client implemented on eachone of user equipment device 700 and user equipment system 701 isretrieved on-demand by issuing requests to a server remote to each oneof user equipment device 700 and user equipment system 701. In oneexample of a client/server-based guidance application, control circuitry704 runs a web browser that interprets web pages provided by a remoteserver. For example, the remote server may store the instructions forthe application in a storage device. The remote server may process thestored instructions using circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 704) and toselectively replay interrupted segments of media content that areimportant for understanding a storyline of the media content asdiscussed.

In some embodiments, the streaming application may be downloaded andinterpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or virtual machine (runby control circuitry 704). In some embodiments, the streamingapplication may be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF),received by the control circuitry 704 as part of a suitable feed, andinterpreted by a user agent running on control circuitry 704. Forexample, the streaming application may be an EBIF application. In someembodiments, the streaming application may be defined by a series ofJAVA-based files that are received and run by a local virtual machine orother suitable middleware executed by control circuitry 704. In some ofsuch embodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital mediaencoding schemes), the streaming application may be, for example,encoded and transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audioand video packets of a program.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of an illustrative streaming system, in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure. User equipment devices 807,808, 810 (e.g., a personal computer, mobile device 402 of FIG. 4, smarttelevision 420 of FIG. 4) may be coupled to communication network 806.Communication network 806 may be one or more networks including theInternet, a mobile phone network, mobile voice or data network (e.g., a4G or LTE network), cable network, public switched telephone network, orother types of communication network or combinations of communicationnetworks. Paths (e.g., depicted as arrows connecting the respectivedevices to the communication network 806) may separately or togetherinclude one or more communications paths, such as a satellite path, afiber-optic path, a cable path, a path that supports Internetcommunications (e.g., IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcastor other wireless signals), or any other suitable wired or wirelesscommunications path or combination of such paths. Communications withthe client devices may be provided by one or more of thesecommunications paths but are shown as a single path in FIG. 8 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing.

Although communications paths are not drawn between user equipmentdevices, these devices may communicate directly with each other viacommunications paths as well as other short-range, point-to-pointcommunications paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wirelesspaths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or othershort-range communication via wired or wireless paths. The userequipment devices may also communicate with each other directly throughan indirect path via communication network 806.

System 800 includes a media content source 802 and a server 804, whichmay comprise or be associated with database 805. Communications withmedia content source 802 and server 804 may be exchanged over one ormore communications paths but are shown as a single path in FIG. 8 toavoid overcomplicating the drawing. In addition, there may be more thanone of each of media content source 802 and server 804, but only one ofeach is shown in FIG. 8 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. Ifdesired, media content source 802 and server 804 may be integrated asone source device.

In some embodiments, server 804 may include control circuitry 811 and astorage 814 (e.g., RAM, ROM, Hard Disk, Removable Disk, etc.). Server804 may also include an input/output path 812. I/O path 812 may providedevice information, or other data, over a local area network (LAN) orwide area network (WAN), and/or other content and data to the controlcircuitry 811, which includes processing circuitry, and storage 814. Thecontrol circuitry 811 may be used to send and receive commands,requests, and other suitable data using I/O path 812, which may compriseI/O circuitry. I/O path 812 may connect control circuitry 704 (andspecifically processing circuitry) to one or more communications paths.

Control circuitry 811 may be based on any suitable processing circuitrysuch as one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signalprocessors, programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and mayinclude a multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core,or any suitable number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments,control circuitry 811 may be distributed across multiple separateprocessors or processing units, for example, multiple of the same typeof processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multipledifferent processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel Corei7 processor). In some embodiments, the control circuitry 811 executesinstructions for an emulation system application stored in memory (e.g.,the storage 814). Memory may be an electronic storage device provided asstorage 814 that is part of control circuitry 811.

Server 804 may retrieve guidance data from media content source 802,process the data as will be described in detail below, and forward thedata to \ user equipment devices 808 and 810. Media content source 802may include one or more types of content distribution equipmentincluding a television distribution facility, cable system headend,satellite distribution facility, programming sources (e.g., televisionbroadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediate distributionfacilities and/or servers, Internet providers, on-demand media servers,and other content providers. NBC is a trademark owned by the NationalBroadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademark owned by the AmericanBroadcasting Company, Inc., and HBO is a trademark owned by the Home BoxOffice, Inc. Media content source 802 may be the originator of content(e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider, etc.) or may not bethe originator of content (e.g., an on-demand content provider, anInternet provider of content of broadcast programs for downloading,etc.). Media content source 802 may include cable sources, satelliteproviders, on-demand providers, Internet providers, over-the-top contentproviders, or other providers of content. Media content source 802 mayalso include a remote media server used to store different types ofcontent (including video content selected by a user), in a locationremote from any of the client devices. Media content source 802 may alsoprovide metadata that can be used to identify important segments ofmedia content as described above.

Client devices may operate in a cloud computing environment to accesscloud services. In a cloud computing environment, various types ofcomputing services for content sharing, storage or distribution (e.g.,video sharing sites or social networking sites) are provided by acollection of network-accessible computing and storage resources,referred to as “the cloud.” For example, the cloud can include acollection of server computing devices (such as, e.g., server 804),which may be located centrally or at distributed locations, that providecloud-based services to various types of users and devices connected viaa network such as the Internet via communication network 806. In suchembodiments, user equipment devices may operate in a peer-to-peer mannerwithout communicating with a central server.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a detailed illustrative process 900 forpresenting a media asset at a client device in accordance with selectionof respective versions of one or more segments of a media asset, inaccordance with some embodiments of this disclosure. In variousembodiments, the individual steps of process 900 may be implemented byone or more components of the devices and systems of FIGS. 7-8. Althoughthe present disclosure may describe certain steps of process 900 (and ofother processes described herein) as being implemented by certaincomponents of the devices and systems of FIGS. 7-8, this is for purposesof illustration only, and it should be understood that other componentsof the devices and systems of FIGS. 7-8 may implement those stepsinstead. For example, the steps of process 900 may be executed by server804 and/or by user equipment device 807, 808, and/or 810 to selectivelystreaming content based on parental control ratings.

At 902, input/output circuitry (e.g., I/O path 702) of a client device(e.g., client device 402 of FIG. 4) may receive a request to play orcustomize portions of a media asset (e.g., selection of option 407 or409 included in GUI 411 associated with media listing 404 of a “Movie A”of FIG. 4).

At 904, in response to such request, I/O circuitry of the client devicemay receive a manifest (e.g., manifest 410 of FIG. 4) from a server(e.g., media server 408 of FIG. 4). The manifest may identify sequentialsegments (e.g., segments 401, 403, 405 of FIG. 4) of the media assetassociated with the request, and identify at least one particularsegment having multiple versions (e.g., versions 404, 406, 408 ofsegment 401; versions 416, 418 of segment 403; versions 426, 428, 430 ofsegment 405 of FIG. 4).

At 906, control circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 704 of device 700 ofFIG. 7 and/or control circuitry 811 of server 804 of FIG. 8) maydetermine whether the manifest indicates that multiple segments haverespective multiple versions.

At 908, if only one segment has multiple versions, control circuitry(e.g., of device 300 of FIG. 3) may generate for display a GUI (e.g.,GUI 411 of FIG. 4) simultaneously depicting a portion of each respectiveversion of the particular segment (e.g., portions of versions 304, 306,308 of FIG. 3), and respective selectable options (e.g., options 310,312, 314 of segment 301 of FIG. 3) associated with the respectiveversions of the particular segment. In some embodiments, controlcircuitry (e.g., of device 300 of FIG. 3) may generate for displayparental control information (e.g., parental control information 307 ofFIG. 3) indicative of objectionable content in the version, and/orsubtitle information (e.g., subtitle information 321 of FIG. 3)indicative of objectionable content in the associated version (e.g.,subtitle information 321 of version 316 of FIG. 3).

At 910, control circuitry (e.g., of device 402 of FIG. 4) may transmitto a server (e.g. media server 408 of FIG. 4) selection of a firstversion of the particular segment (e.g., version 406 of segment 401 ofFIG. 4). For example, it may be desirable for a first user (e.g., aparent) to select a version of a scene that is not violent (e.g.,version 406 of FIG. 4 as compared to version 404 of FIG. 4) when viewingthe media asset with a second user (e.g., a young child).

At 912, if multiple segments have multiple respective versions, controlcircuitry (e.g., of device 300 of FIG. 3) may generate for display a GUI(e.g., GUI 411 of FIG. 4) simultaneously depicting a portion of eachrespective version of segments having multiple versions (e.g., portionsof versions 304, 306, 308 of segment 301 of FIG. 3; portions of versions316, 318 of segment 303 of FIG. 3; portions of versions 326, 328, 330 ofsegment 305 of FIG. 3) and respective selectable options (e.g., options310, 312, 314 of FIG. 3; options 320, 322 of FIG. 3; options 332, 334,336 of FIG. 3) associated with the respective versions of each suchsegment.

At 914, control circuitry (e.g., of device 402 of FIG. 4) may transmitto a server (e.g., media server 408 of FIG. 4) for each respectivesegment (e.g., segments 401, 403, 405 of FIG. 4) having multipleversions, selection of a version of the particular segment (e.g.,selected versions 406, 418, 430 of segments 401, 403, 405, respectively,of FIG. 4).

At 916, control circuitry (e.g., client device 402 or client device 420of FIG. 4) may begin playing the media asset (e.g., “Movie A” associatedwith listing 404 of FIG. 4), such as in response to receiving a requestto play the media asset (e.g., option 407) or after receiving andtransmitting to the server (e.g., media server 408) each selectedversion of the respective segments of the media asset. The playing ofthe media asset may be performed in accordance with the receivedselections (e.g., selected versions 406, 418, 430 of segments 401, 403,405 may be received by the client device at the appropriate timecorresponding to the time stamp of the segment within the presentationof the media asset).

At 918, control circuitry (e.g., client device 402 or client device 420of FIG. 4) may determine, while playing the media asset (e.g., “Movie A”associated with listing 404 of FIG. 4), whether the next segment has acorresponding selected version (e.g., version 406 of segment 401 of FIG.4). If the control circuitry determines the next segment does not have aselected version (e.g., the next segment does not have multipleversions, or the user did not select a preference of a version) thecontrol circuitry at 922 may request a default version of the segmentfrom the server (e.g., in accordance with local parental controlsettings).

At 920, control circuitry (e.g., client device 402 or client device 420of FIG. 4) may request from the server (e.g., media server 408 of FIG.4) the selected version of the segment (e.g., version 406 of segment 401of FIG. 4). Processing may then return to 918 to determine whether thenext segment, after version 406 of segment 401 of FIG. 4, has anassociated selected version of such next segment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a detailed illustrative process 1000 fortransmitting selected respective versions of one or more segments of amedia asset from a server to a client device, in accordance with someembodiments of this disclosure. In various embodiments, the individualsteps of process 1000 may be implemented by one or more components ofthe devices and systems of FIGS. 7-8. Although the present disclosuremay describe certain steps of process 1000 (and of other processesdescribed herein) as being implemented by certain components of thedevices and systems of FIGS. 7-8, this is for purposes of illustrationonly, and it should be understood that other components of the devicesand systems of FIGS. 7-8 may implement those steps instead. For example,the steps of process 1000 may be executed by server 804 and/or by userequipment device 807, 808, and/or 810 to selectively stream contentbased on parental control ratings.

At 1002, input/output (I/O) circuitry (e.g., I/O path 812) of a server(e.g., media server 408 of FIG. 4, which may correspond to server 804 ofFIG. 8) may receive a request to play or customize portions of a mediaasset (e.g., receive from a client device a selection of option 407 or409 included in GUI 411 associated with media listing 404 of a “Movie A”of FIG. 4).

At 1004, in response to receiving such request, I/O circuitry of theserver (e.g., media server 408 of FIG. 4) may transmit a manifest (e.g.,manifest 410 of FIG. 4) to a client device (e.g., client device 402 ofFIG. 4). The manifest may identify sequential segments (e.g., segments401, 403, 405 of FIG. 4) of the media asset associated with the request,and identify at least one particular segment having multiple versions(e.g., versions 404, 406, 408 of segment 401; versions 416, 418 ofsegment 403; versions 426, 428, 430 of segment 405 of FIG. 4).

At 1006, control circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 704 of device 700 ofFIG. 7 and/or control circuitry 811 of server 804 of FIG. 8) maydetermine whether the manifest indicates that multiple segments haverespective multiple versions.

At 1008, if only one segment has multiple versions, control circuitry(e.g., of media server 408 of FIG. 4) may cause the client device (e.g.,user equipment 808 of FIG. 8) to generate for display a GUI (e.g., GUI411 of FIG. 4) simultaneously depicting a portion of each respectiveversion of the particular segment (e.g., portions of versions 304, 306,308 of FIG. 3), and respective selectable options (e.g., options 310,312, 314 of segment 301 of FIG. 3) associated with the respectiveversions of the particular segment. In some embodiments, the controlcircuitry of the server may cause the client device to generate fordisplay parental control information (e.g., parental control information307 of FIG. 3) indicative of objectionable content in the version,and/or subtitle information (e.g., subtitle information 321 of FIG. 3)indicative of objectionable content in the associated version (e.g.,subtitle information 321 of version 316 of FIG. 3).

At 1010, control circuitry (e.g., of media server 408 of FIG. 4) mayreceive from the client device selection of a first version of theparticular segment (e.g., version 406 of segment 401 of FIG. 4). Forexample, it may be desirable for a first user (e.g., a parent) to selecta version of a scene that is not violent (e.g., version 406 of FIG. 4 ascompared to version 404 of FIG. 4) when viewing the media asset with asecond user (e.g., a young child).

At 1012, if multiple segments have multiple respective versions, controlcircuitry (e.g., of media server 408 of FIG. 4) may cause the clientdevice to generate for display a GUI (e.g., GUI 411 of FIG. 4)simultaneously depicting a portion of each respective version ofsegments having multiple versions (e.g., portions of versions 304, 306,308 of segment 301 of FIG. 3; portions of versions 316, 318 of segment303 of FIG. 3; portions of versions 326, 328, 330 of segment 305 of FIG.3) and respective selectable options (e.g., options 310, 312, 314 ofFIG. 3; options 320, 322 of FIG. 3; options 332, 334, 336 of FIG. 3)associated with the respective versions of each such segment.

At 1014, control circuitry (e.g., of media server 408 of FIG. 4) mayreceive from the client device (e.g., device 402 of FIG. 4) for eachrespective segment (e.g., segments 401, 403, 405 of FIG. 4) havingmultiple versions, selection of a version of the particular segment(e.g., selected versions 406, 418, 430 of segments 401, 403, 405,respectively, of FIG. 4).

At 1016, control circuitry (e.g., of media server 408 of FIG. 4) maycause the client device to begin playing the media asset (e.g., “MovieA” associated with listing 404 of FIG. 4), such as in response toreceiving a request to play the media asset (e.g., option 407) or afterreceiving each selected version of the respective segments of the mediaasset. The playing of the media asset may be performed in accordancewith the received selections (e.g., selected versions 406, 418, 430 ofsegments 401, 403, 405 may be received by the client device at theappropriate time corresponding to the time stamp of the segment withinthe presentation of the media asset).

At 1018, control circuitry (e.g., media server 408 of FIG. 4) maydetermine, while playing the media asset (e.g., “Movie A” associatedwith listing 404 of FIG. 4), whether the next segment has acorresponding selected version (e.g., version 406 of segment 401 of FIG.4). If the control circuitry determines the next segment does not have aselected version (e.g., the next segment does not have multipleversions, or the user did not select a preference of a version) thecontrol circuitry may transmit at 1022 a default version of the segmentto the client device (e.g., in accordance with local parental controlsettings).

At 1020, control circuitry (e.g., of media server 408 of FIG. 4) maytransmit to the client device (e.g., client device 402 or client device420 of FIG. 4) the selected version of the segment (e.g., version 406 ofsegment 401 of FIG. 4). Processing may then return to 1018 (e.g., todetermine whether the next segment, after version 406 of segment 401 ofFIG. 4, has an associated selected version of such next segment).

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a detailed illustrative process 1100 formonitoring frames of a live broadcast of a media asset based on parentalcontrol ratings, in accordance with some embodiments of this disclosure.In various embodiments, the individual steps of process 1100 may beimplemented by one or more components of the devices and systems ofFIGS. 7-8. Although the present disclosure may describe certain steps ofprocess 1100 (and of other processes described herein) as beingimplemented by certain components of the devices and systems of FIGS.7-8, this is for purposes of illustration only, and it should beunderstood that other components of the devices and systems of FIGS. 7-8may implement those steps instead. For example, the steps of process1100 may be executed by server 804 and/or by user equipment device 807,808, and/or 810 to selectively streaming content based on parentalcontrol ratings.

At 1102, control circuitry (e.g., control circuitry of media server 508of FIG. 5) may identify a next frame of a live broadcast of a mediaasset that is to be transmitted to a first device. For example, themedia server may receive a request from a client device (e.g., device502 of FIG. 5) to access the media asset (e.g., a live broadcast of asoccer match).

At 1104, control circuitry (e.g., control circuitry of media server 508of FIG. 5) may perform processing on the next frame (e.g., pre-processthe frame into one or more vectors and/or input the frame into a machinelearning model, such as the neural network model shown in FIG. 6, and/orperform image and/or audio processing).

At 1106, control circuitry (e.g., control circuitry of media server 508of FIG. 5) may determine, based on the processing performed at 1104,whether the frame of the media asset depicts content associated with aparental control rating (e.g., whether the frame contains nudity 606,violence 608, profanity 610, mature behavior 612 of FIG. 6).

At 1108, upon determining the frame does not depict content associatedwith a parental control rating, the frame may be sent by controlcircuitry (e.g., control circuitry of media server 508 of FIG. 5) in itsoriginal form to the client device, at 1110.

At 1112, upon determining the frame does not depict content associatedwith a parental control rating, the frame may be sent by controlcircuitry (e.g., control circuitry of media server 508 of FIG. 5) alongwith associated metadata (e.g., metadata 552 including parental controlrating 554 of FIG. 5). In some embodiments, the metadata may indicatethat the one or more analyzed frames contain objectionable content(e.g., violence, nudity, profane language and/or an “R” rating).

At 1114, control circuitry (e.g., control circuitry of media server 508of FIG. 5) may cause a client device (e.g., device 502 of FIG. 5) tocompare the received parental control rating (e.g., parental controlrating 554 of FIG. 5) with a local parental control setting at theclient device (e.g., restricting content with ratings of “Ages 12 andover”).

At 1116, upon determining, at the client device (e.g., device 502 ofFIG. 5), based on the comparison of 1114, that the parental controlrating is compatible with the local parental control setting at theclient device, the original version of the frame may be transmitted tothe client device, at 1120 (e.g., if the local parental control settingindicates content rated PG-13 is acceptable, and the received parentalcontrol rating is PG-13).

At 1118, upon determining, at the client device (e.g., device 502 ofFIG. 5), based on the comparison of 1114, that the parental controlrating is incompatible with the local parental control setting at theclient device, control circuitry (e.g., control circuitry of mediaserver 508 of FIG. 5) may cause the client device to perform an action(e.g., insert blank frame in place of the objectionable content,substitute replacement content in place of the objectionable content,etc.) related to the display of the frame. Such actions are discussed inmore detail in connection with FIG. 12.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a detailed illustrative process 1200 forcausing a client device to perform an action related to the monitoringof a live broadcast of a media asset based on parental control ratings,in accordance with some embodiments of this disclosure. In variousembodiments, the individual steps of process 1200 may be implemented byone or more components of the devices and systems of FIGS. 7-8. Althoughthe present disclosure may describe certain steps of process 1200 (andof other processes described herein) as being implemented by certaincomponents of the devices and systems of FIGS. 7-8, this is for purposesof illustration only, and it should be understood that other componentsof the devices and systems of FIGS. 7-8 may implement those stepsinstead. For example, the steps of process 1200 may be executed byserver 804 and/or by user equipment device 807, 808, and/or 810 toselectively stream content based on parental control ratings.

At 1222, control circuitry of a server (e.g., media server 508 of FIG.5) may cause the client device (e.g., device 502 of FIG. 5) to promptentry of a password or PIN in order to override the local parentalcontrol setting. Such prompt may be provided, for example, in responseto determining at 1116 of FIG. 11 that the parental control rating isincompatible with the local parental control setting at the clientdevice.

At 1224, control circuitry (e.g., of media server 508 of FIG. 5) maycause the client device to perform an action related to display of theframe. It should be understood that any one of these actions mayperformed. Alternatively, any two, or any combination, of these actionsmay be performed. While all of steps 1224-1232 are shown, it should beappreciated that some of these steps may be optional or excluded.

At 1226, control circuitry of a server (e.g., media server 508 of FIG.5) may cause the client device (e.g., device 502 of FIG. 5) to skip theframe associated with the parental rating information (e.g., containingobjectionable content incompatible with a local parental control settingof the client device). For example, the server may cause the clientdevice to fade out of the prior scene, and fade in to the next suitablescene after the objectionable content concludes.

Additionally or alternatively, control circuitry of a server (e.g.,media server 508 of FIG. 5) may cause the client device (e.g., device502 of FIG. 5) at 1228 to substitute other content (e.g., advertisement,interactive content, supplemental content, etc.) for the objectionablecontent. In some embodiments, the advertisements may be directed toyounger users, and/or may be related to the media asset (e.g., a trailerfor a sequel to the current media asset). A prompt to enter a passwordmay be available at any point during the replacement content to enable auser to view the objectionable content. In some embodiments, a firstuser (e.g., a parent) may receive from the media server at a mobiledevice (e.g., device 502 of FIG. 5) the skipped-over or substitutedframe, and/or such frame may be stored for later viewing (e.g., toenable a parent to view the content at a later time, or while the frameis being skipped over on another device, such as a smart television,while still keeping a younger user from viewing the potentiallyobjectionable content).

Additionally or alternatively, control circuitry of a server (e.g.,media server 508 of FIG. 5) may cause the client device (e.g., device502 of FIG. 5) at 1230 to present a blank or dark screen for theduration of the objectionable content. In some embodiments, a user maybe able to fast-forward or rewind through such blank or dark frame.

Additionally or alternatively, control circuitry of a server (e.g.,media server 508 of FIG. 5) may cause the client device (e.g., device502 of FIG. 5) at 1232 to perform another action. For example, thechannel may be automatically changed, or the scene automaticallyfast-forwarded (e.g., based on instructions received from the server).As another example, a playlist of each objectionable scene may becompiled and transmitted to a first user (e.g., a parent) at a latertime. Processing may then return to 1102 of FIG. 11.

The processes discussed above are intended to be illustrative and notlimiting. One skilled in the art would appreciate that the steps of theprocesses discussed herein may be omitted, modified, combined and/orrearranged, and any additional steps may be performed without departingfrom the scope of the invention. More generally, the above disclosure ismeant to be exemplary and not limiting. Only the claims that follow aremeant to set bounds as to what the present invention includes.Furthermore, it should be noted that the features and limitationsdescribed in any one embodiment may be applied to any other embodimentherein, and flowcharts or examples relating to one embodiment may becombined with any other embodiment in a suitable manner, done indifferent orders, or done in parallel. In addition, the systems andmethods described herein may be performed in real time. It should alsobe noted that the systems and/or methods described above may be appliedto, or used in accordance with, other systems and/or methods.

1. A method comprising: receiving, from a server at a client device, a manifest of a media asset, wherein the manifest identifies: (a) a plurality of sequential segments of the media asset, each respective sequential segment of the plurality of sequential segments being associated with a different time period within a duration of the media asset, and (b) for each respective sequential segment of the plurality of sequential segments, a plurality of versions of the respective sequential segment of the plurality of sequential segments; generating for display a graphical user interface that simultaneously depicts, for each respective sequential segment of the plurality of sequential segments: a respective preview of each respective version of the plurality of versions of the respective sequential segment, wherein for each sequential segment of the plurality of sequential segments, at least one of the previews presented via the graphical user interface depicts potentially objectionable content included in the corresponding version; and a plurality of selectable options, wherein each respective selectable option of the plurality of selectable options is associated with a respective version of the respective sequential segment and is associated with a respective preview of the respective version, wherein each respective selectable option for a particular version is depicted at a portion of the graphical user interface that is different from a portion of the graphical user interface at which the corresponding preview of the particular version is depicted; receiving, at the client device and for each respective sequential segment, a selection of an option, of the plurality of selectable options, that is associated with a respective version of the plurality of versions of the respective sequential segment; and during playing of the media asset, in response to determining that a particular segment of the plurality of sequential segments is the next segment to be played: requesting from the server a version of the particular segment associated with the selected option for the particular segment.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface further depicts: parental control information for each respective preview of each respective version of the plurality of versions of the particular segment, wherein the parental information is identified in the manifest and indicates at least one of the versions of the plurality of versions of the particular segment contains potentially objectionable content.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein each respective preview comprises: a key frame from each respective version of the particular segment, wherein the key frame comprises potentially objectionable content associated with the respective preview.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein at the graphical user interface further comprises: subtitle information which is depicted in the graphical user interface in association with the at least one preview and which specifies subtitles of audio corresponding to the potentially objectionable content of a version, of the plurality of versions, that corresponds to the at least one preview.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein each respective preview comprises: an animation or trick play content associated with the respective preview.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein: the playing of the media asset occurs at a device other than the client device.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting a request to play the media asset; and receiving, without generating for display the graphical user interface, an initial segment of the plurality of segments comprising the particular segment.
 8. A system comprising: control circuitry configured to: receive, from a server at a client device, a manifest of a media asset, wherein the manifest identifies: (a) a plurality of sequential segments of the media asset, each respective sequential segment of the plurality of sequential segments being associated with a different time period within a duration of the media asset, and (b) for each respective sequential segment of the plurality of sequential segments, a plurality of versions of the respective sequential segment of the plurality of sequential segments; display circuitry configured to: generate for display a graphical user interface that simultaneously depicts, for each respective sequential segment of the plurality of sequential segments: a respective preview of each respective version of the plurality of versions of the respective sequential segment, wherein for each sequential segment of the plurality of sequential segments, at least one of the previews presented via the graphical user interface depicts potentially objectionable content included in the corresponding version; and a plurality of selectable options, wherein each respective selectable option of the plurality of selectable options is associated with a respective version of the respective sequential segment and is associated with a respective preview of the respective version, wherein each respective selectable option for a particular version is depicted at a portion of the graphical user interface that is different from a portion of the graphical user interface at which the corresponding preview of the particular version is depicted; wherein the control circuitry is further configured to: receive, at the client device and for each respective sequential segment, a selection of an option, of the plurality of selectable options, that is associated with a respective version of the plurality of versions of the particular segment; and during playing of the media asset, in response to determining that a particular segment of the plurality of sequential segments is the next segment to be played: request from the server a version of the particular segment associated with the selected option for the particular segment.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the display circuitry causes the graphical user interface to further depict: parental control information for each respective preview of each respective version of the plurality of versions of the particular segment, wherein the parental information is identified in the manifest and indicates at least one of the versions of the plurality of versions of the particular segment contains potentially objectionable content.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein each respective preview comprises: a key frame from each respective version of the particular segment, wherein the key frame comprises potentially objectionable content associated with the respective preview.
 11. The system of claim 8, wherein the control circuitry is configured to cause the graphical user interface to further comprise: subtitle information which is depicted in the graphical user interface in association with the at least one preview depicted in the graphical user interface and which specifies subtitles of audio corresponding to the potentially objectionable content of a version, of the plurality of versions, that corresponds to the at least one portion.
 12. The system of claim 8, wherein each respective preview comprises: an animation or trick play content associated with the respective preview.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein: the playing of the media asset occurs at a device other than the client device.
 14. The system of claim 8, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to: transmit a request to play the media asset; and receive, without generating for display the graphical user interface, an initial segment of the plurality of segments comprising the particular segment.
 15. A method comprising: transmitting, from a server to a client device, a manifest of a media asset, wherein the manifest identifies: (a) a plurality of sequential segments of the media asset, each respective sequential segment of the plurality of sequential segments being associated with a different time period within a duration of the media asset, and (b) for each respective sequential segment of the plurality of sequential segments, a plurality of versions of the respective sequential segment of the plurality of sequential segments; causing the client device to generate for display a graphical user interface that simultaneously depicts, for each respective sequential segment of the plurality of sequential segments: a respective preview of each respective version of the plurality of versions of the respective sequential segment, wherein for each sequential segment of the plurality of sequential segments, at least one of the previews presented via the graphical user interface depicts potentially objectionable content included in the corresponding version; and a plurality of selectable options, wherein each respective selectable option of the plurality of selectable options is associated with a respective version of the respective sequential segment and is associated with a respective preview of the respective version, wherein each respective selectable option for a particular version is depicted at a portion of the graphical user interface that is different from a portion of the graphical user interface at which the corresponding preview of the particular version is depicted; receiving, at the server from the client device, for each respective sequential segment, a selection of an option, of the plurality of selectable options, that is associated with a respective version of the plurality of versions of the respective sequential segment; and during playing of the media asset, in response to receiving an indication that a particular segment of the plurality of sequential segments is the next segment to be played: transmitting to the client device a version of the particular segment associated with the selected option for the particular segment.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the graphical user interface further depicts: parental control information for each respective preview of each respective version of the plurality of versions of the particular segment, wherein the parental information is identified in the manifest and indicates at least one of the versions of the plurality of versions of the particular segment contains potentially objectionable content
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein each respective preview comprises: a key frame from each respective version of the particular segment, wherein the key frame comprises potentially objectionable content associated with the respective preview.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein the graphical user interface further comprises: subtitle information which is depicted in the graphical user interface in association with the at least one preview and which specifies subtitles of audio corresponding to the potentially objectionable content of a version, of the plurality of versions, that corresponds to the at least one preview.
 19. The method of claim 15, wherein each respective preview comprises: an animation or trick play content associated with the respective preview.
 20. The method of claim 15, wherein: the playing of the media asset occurs at a device other than the client device. be requested from the server. 